Summary: THE JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY 288493-511 (1989)
Primate SpinothalamicPathways:III.
ThalamicTerminations of the Dorsolateral
andVentral SpinothalamicPathways
A. VANIA APKARIAN AND CHARLES J. HODGE
Neurosurgery Department, SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, New York 13210
ABSTRACT
The termination sites of the dorsolateral (DSTT) and ventral (VSTT)
spinothalamic pathways were determined by using anterograde transport of
horseradish peroxidase from the lumbar spinal cord in primates. One animal
had no spinal cord lesion, while of two other animals, one received a midtho-
racic dorsolateral funiculus lesion, and the other received a midthoracic ven-
tral quadrant lesion contralateral to the injection. The thalamic label in the
animal with no spinal cord lesion was much less than the label in the two ani-
mals with spinal lesions. Moreover, in the animals with spinal lesions, HRP-
labeled cells were found within the thalamus. Therefore, the remaining six
animals received ipsilateral hemisections and bilateral dorsal column lesions,
irrespective of the contralaterallesions.
The thalamic label in the animals without contralateral lesions were
assumed to represent the total spinothalamic input to the diencephalon. In